Boal 20 Anos Ribeiro Real Lote 2

Boal 20 Anos Ribeiro Real Lote 2 is the second release in Barbeito's Signature-line bottling of Boal from the Ribeiro Real estate, the house's single-estate vineyard in the valley of Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. The site sits at around 200 m on the southern slope of the island, on rich volcanic soils sheltered from the trades by the steep sides of the valley and ventilated by the south-westerly sea breeze. Some of the Ribeiro Real plantings - particularly the old Tinta Negra parcels - reach beyond a century in age.

For Lote 2, Ricardo Diogo Vasconcelos de Freitas selected the estate's best Boal casks and blended in older Tinta Negra wines from the same plantings to give the cuvée a deeper, more nervy frame. The "20 Anos" designation refers to the average cask age under Madeira DOP rules; ageing follows the canteiro tradition - slow oxidation under the warming attic of the Câmara de Lobos lodge over the course of two decades.

Boal sits at Madeira's medium-sweet point (Meio Doce), between the off-dry Verdelho and the lush Malmsey. Fortified to 19.5%, the style is built on caramel, dried fig and roasted nuts framed by the salt-edged acidity that lets Madeira age almost indefinitely.

Bottled in Câmara de Lobos in March 2024 as a numbered edition of 600.